


Mission Successful

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Concorde is kept in pretty horrible conditions so uh, Gen, also warning for swearing, warning for animal abuse I guess?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 16:37:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13884840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Katja gives her report on her last encounter with the Soul Riders.





	Mission Successful

Katja had a lot of very strong, very negative feelings about the Dark Rider outfit that she was forced to wear. It was ugly, it was shapeless, it chafed, it was _grey_ , and she wanted nothing more than to hurl it into the fire. Unfortunately, it was fire-proof. But, she had to admit, the water-proof quality of it was nice. Especially on the oil rig where it had been frigging raining for most of her time here.

“Would it really be so bad to dismiss the eternal rain? This entire place is going to rust away to nothing,” Katja snapped as she strode into the meeting room, throwing her balled-up outfit at Darko. He scowled as it wetly smacked him in the face and dropped to the ground, where it began to soak the carpet at his feet.

“I agree,” said Jessica. “It does awful things to my hair.” But, she frowned at her sister. “Well?”

“The mission was a success,” said Katja, drawing herself up tall as a smug smile spread across her face.

“Yeah, right,” said Sabine with a scoff and a roll of her eyes. She was still wearing her stupid red outfit, the only General to actually enjoy wearing it. She was a weird one, but, then again, Sabine’s fashion sense had never been anything to write home about. Hence why Katja and Jessica had forced her to go to the fashion show in Jorvik City last year. “I heard that you got tricked. By Alex, of all people.”

“Ah, that explains it,” said Darko with a chuckle. Katja’s face turned red, but not with a blush.

“Shut up!” Katja snapped, her blue eyes sparking with anger. “At least I didn’t get sucked into a void, _Dorko_.”

“Stop making fun of his name!” Sabine snapped back at her. “Nini didn’t know that it wouldn’t age well.”

“Children!” Mr Sands thundered, holding his hands up. His power gripped the four Dark Riders, rendering them immobile and voiceless. “Katja, give your mission report.”

“The mission was a success,” said Katja once Mr Sands had returned her voice to her. “I followed the Soul Rider from Valedale, fully intent on capturing that rodent so that associate Darko could get his revenge. Unfortunately, it was a trick. I was led into an ambush, and immediately, prepared to attack.” That wasn’t true, she’d frozen up at the sight of Alex, but they didn’t need to know that. “But, to my surprise, it wasn’t an ambush. They tried to pull the same trick on me that they did last time. A duel by the codes of Pandoria. If they could beat me at a race, I would answer one of their questions truthfully.”

Katja smirked as she continued. “I had to agree, of course, nothing could get me to go back there.” Her hands trembled minutely, but she clenched her hands into fists in the long white sleeves of her coat and continued. “But, I had to have some fun with them, too. I agreed to their race, but I didn’t make it easy for their champion. I sent her into a nightmare realm, one that I was sure she would get lost in. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. But, it did delay her significantly. I would have won, the gates were in sight. But then…” Her face darkened with fury and she clenched her fists tighter, her fingernails digging into her palms. “Then, that _bitch_ tricked me again. With the golden apple. And I fell for it, like a common witch.” Self-loathing crashed over her for a moment, before she remembered that her fellow Generals and Darko were watching her every move, waiting for a weakness that they could poke fun at or belittle her for. So, Katja composed herself, and continued.

“Their hero won the race, in the end. And I answered their question. But, you see, the human language, particularly the English one, is so easy to twist.” She smirked, and her smirk broadened into a grin as she continued. “They asked me where Concorde was. And, I told them the truth- that, faintly, I hadn’t the foggiest. But, I phrased it in a rather… hmm, let’s just say, misleading way.” She began to laugh, caught up in the thrill of what she’d done. “And so, I told them that our plan had been to take Anne and Concorde to Pandoria. But, and I hope that I’m remembering what I said correctly, I said that he didn’t make it.” Now, her fellow Generals were grinning, too.

“Well done, Katja,” said Mr Sands, smiling, too. “You have definitely lived up to my expectations.”

“Thank you,” said Katja, grinning. “Oh, you should’ve seen the looks on their faces when they thought that he was dead. It was priceless!”

“Well, perhaps you aren’t so useless, after all,” said Darko, able to speak now that Katja had given her report. Katja beamed with pride, feeling that much taller.

“I will inform our business partner of this,” said Mr Sands, walking around to the other side of his large oak desk and picking up the telephone. He dialled a familiar number, only having to wait a few moments before his call was answered.

“Hello, Mr Sands,” said Mr Anwir, his voice as smooth and cool as ever. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this phonecall?”

“One of my… employees has given us a leg-up, so to speak,” said Mr Sands. “She has implied that the missing horse is dead, as people were beginning to ask questions about it. Nobody will come looking for that animal now.”

“Thank you for the information,” said Mr Anwir, though Sands could hear the grin in his voice. “That helps us immensely with our plans.”

“It helps us, too, more than you can imagine,” said Mr Sands. “Be sure to inform me of the outcomes of your experiment.”

“I will gladly do that,” said Mr Anwir. He was still grinning as he hung up the phone, and walked down the hallway from his office, then onto the catwalk and over to the railing, where his current experiment was caged in the middle of the room.

The grey Pegasus bucked and thrashed, screaming against his restraints, against the ropes digging into his flesh, the barbed wire hobbling his legs. He had been beautiful, once, but now, time and wounds and lack of grooming had turned his mane brown, and his coat was a rather muddy grey colour. Yet the spark in his eyes had never faded.

“Employees,” Anwir called down to them, ignoring the hatred emanating from the horse like a wave of heat. “My business partners have once more helped me out in my experiments. Commence phase two of the experiment.” His eyes gleamed with satisfaction, his teeth white in the gloom, as one of the scientists nodded, opened the case containing the syringe full of darkness, and stepped towards the caged horse. The Pegasus struggled harder to escape, his blood seeping onto the floor, throwing himself against the bars of the cage. But slowly, one by one, his hooves, neck, and barrel were restrained, held immobile. And, at last, his struggles ceased. The light in his eyes was muted, now, though he still glared at Anwir for all he was worth.

And then, the darkness was injected directly into his bloodstream, and the horse screamed as a wave of darkness emanated from the wound and crashed over everything.


End file.
